From traffic ticket to federal case

Robert Gavin has an interesting story about a man who made a federal case out of a traffic ticket.

Michael Palmiero was found guilty on Friday of failing to stop at a stop sign at Watervliet Arsenal. The 44-year-old Schenectady man waged a legal battle against a traffic ticket at James T. FoleyU.S. Courthouse in Albany, a building where killers, drug kingpins and terrorism supporters have been sentenced to decades in federal prison.

Palmiero was sentenced to pay $75 for his Dec. 12 ticket — the amount he owed when he was stopped by an officer at the Army arsenal, where he has worked for six years. The resolution followed a non-jury trial before U.S. Magistrate Judge Randolph Treece in which Palmiero acted as his own lawyer.

7 Responses

Just wait until Cuomo’s new plan of not being able to plead down speeding tickets takes effect. Everybody will be taking speeding tickets to trial since you have nothing to lose. At trial you will either be guilty of speeding or not so you mind as well fight it. The net result will be another unfunded state mandate dropped on town courts. After a while towns won’t even pursue speeding tickets because of the hassle.

This case would have nothing to do with Cuomo’s plan. This was a federal case as it happened in the Watervliet Arsenal, which is run by the Department of Defense. I don’t even think this guy would get points on his license, since this was administered by the US Government and no the state.

Cuomo’s proposal does NOT prevent local prosecutors or courts from pleading speeding tickets down to non-moving violations. His point was that when a court (including many local town courts) routinely pleads down speeding to non-moving violations (typically parking on the pavement) the state misses out on a surcharge because the original charge requires one and the reduced charge does not. He simply proposed adding state surcharges to the non-moving violation fines. It is a revenue-maker for the state at the expense of the violator (the municipality loses none of the fine it would otherwise receive), but it does not prevent anyone from contesting or negotiating the adjudication of a traffic summons for any charge.

Bumper to bumper traffic at the Arsenal, really? Sounds like just another “it’s not my fault” excuse to avoid responsibility. Looks like he got off cheap, New York State would have whacked him with an $85 surcharge on top of his fine.

It is correct that this was a federal case because the violation occurred on federal property. On other military installations located within NY such as Fort Drum and West Point, uniformed service members are told they can expect a verbal dressing-down and negative counseling from installation commanders for speeding in addition to whatever the federal magistrate hands down.

If anyone read the PROPOSED Governor’s bill on speed pleas, they’d see that the first attempt is to keep six point tickets from being reduced to zeroes, and the second, if they are reduced, are to make the surcharges applicable to the zeroes. It is all about the money. When the three men in the room are done, I’m betting the result will be a surcharge on ALL tickets, no matter the result. I’m actually kind of surprised the Driver Assessment hasn’t been increased.

Cell phones now have three points…to trigger Driver Assessments. (NYC folks get a lot of these, and at zero points, they didn’t make any money for the
State) Cuomo Sr. was a big fan of the 55 limit, and increased the points assessed on speeds, to show the Feds we supported 55 back when they could not show “compliance” to the Feds, and we’d lose highway money.

The Driver Assessment in 2005 increased a typical speeding fine from $150 or so to $500 total. This cash grab was done specifically outside the Courts purview, by DMV, so the pipeline could not be tweaked.

I’ve been following this since I campaigned against the 55 limit. Every single law passed is “all about the money”. The State has an abusive relationship with the Towns and Villages…look to the troopers-don’t-prosecute debacle…saved 5 million in Trooper OT, pissed off the road Members, and de-motitvated them to write summmonses. Each Court had to hire a prosecutor at the town’s expenses. (unfunded mandate ) Given that the State didn’t care about the problems caused by pulling Trooper Prosecution, and won’t pay for the Prosecutors, it is totally rational that the Court will look to keep the money coming in for the Town, and not just act as an unpaid collection arm for Albany (all fine money must be remitted to Albany in 30 days, and they have no slippage on this one).

The Motorist is an endlessly abusable resource. We will find out what “happens” when the bills are dropped on the legislator’s desks at 3 am for votes at 9 am, like every Session.